


Best Friends Forever

by whitedandelions



Series: 50 Tomarry/Harrymort Oneshotssss [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Oblivious Harry, Possessive Behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 07:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16718827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitedandelions/pseuds/whitedandelions
Summary: It’s only Wednesday, and Harry has once again shut down another one of his best friend’s more homicidal tendencies.  Harry loves his best friend so much, would die for him and everything, but he just really wants Tom to take over the world like a normal person.





	Best Friends Forever

“No,” says Harry, and Tom groans, sitting down hard on Harry’s couch and all but sulking. 

“You _always_ say no,” he says, and Harry crosses his arms.

“Why not take Greengrass?” he asks. 

“Because she’s not you,” says Tom, and then he turns to look at Harry.  “Wait, is there anything you want?”

“What?” escapes him and then he looks down at Tom’s earnest expression.  “No, no, I’m not falling for this again.  I am _not_ accompanying you to the Ministry ball.”

“But everyone _loves_ you,” says Tom.  “Dumbledore asked after you.  Twice!  I’m trying to stay on his good side.”

“I hate that bastard,” says Harry.  “There’s no way I’m going to subject myself to that when you can take a perfectly nice witch with you.”

“There has to be something you want,” says Tom, his eyes narrowing.  He’s being the calculating prat Harry knows him to be, and Harry resists the urge to kick his best friend out of his house.

“Other than you stopping your followers from being right arseholes, then no.  Nothing you can give me will make me go with you.”

“Done,” says Tom.  He’s smiling wide, and he stands, as if he leaves fast enough Harry won’t have enough time to protest.

“Wait, no,” he says, stepping in front of Tom before he can vanish out the door.  “This means they can’t go torturing muggles and whatnot.  They’ll never agree – “

“Please, Harry,” says Tom, and he looks dismissive enough that Harry is shocked silent for a second.  “I’ll send you your robes by tomorrow.”  He slips past Harry without much trouble since Harry is frozen still, and a minute later, Harry hears the signature crack of his best friend apparating.

* * *

**A Few Years Later**

“Are you _kidding_ me.”

His voice echoes throughout the hall, and he can hear shuffling.  The Death Eaters are hiding behind their Lord, and Harry will have none of it.

“Tom,” he says, and Tom’s heard his voice like this before so Tom knows better than to deny him.  So Tom moves, and Harry comes face first with the offending Death Eaters.

“When you come into _my_ Hall,” he says, and it’s okay for him to say this because Tom’s basically bequeathed the Slytherin Mansion to him ages ago and the Death Eaters know it, “You come see _me_ first.  I know you,” he pauses to point threateningly at one of the Death Eaters, “have broken ribs and that means you come to me for healing before anything else!”

“We’re sorry!” blurts out the first Death Eater, and it’s Barty that is looking up at him once he removes his mask.  “It was late and our Lord was with you and he gets so particular about us interrupting his time with you and – “

He looks like he wants to say more, but there’s suddenly a very threatening aura in the air and Harry rolls his eyes, knowing exactly who it’s coming from.

“I see Tom all the time,” he says, flippantly, “and it’s more important that you guys are healed.”

“You say that,” says a Death Eater behind Barty in a whisper, “but there’s punishment if we disobey.”

“Are you serious,” he asks, flatly, and turns to face Tom. 

Who is no longer there.

Typical.

“Anyway,” he says, “You come find me.”

There’s simpering behind him as he leads them to the Infirmary, but he ignores it, instead focusing on which Parseltongue spells he’ll have to use to heal them.

* * *

“You’re nothing to him.”

He pauses in what he’s doing, keeping a finger on the book in front of him so he doesn’t lose his place.

“Excuse me?”

Bellatrix appears out of the shadows, looking sufficiently creepy.  He never understood why Tom insists on keeping Bellatrix around, not when it’s getting increasingly obvious she’s infatuated with Tom.

“You don’t help him like I do,” she continues.  She gets closer and Harry raises an eyebrow at her, extremely unimpressed.

“I help him in other ways.”

“Ways that should not make you his right-hand-man!”  Her voice gets suddenly loud, and he wonders if this is the right time to silence her with a spell.  She’s prone to mad ravings, and really, this is getting out of hand.

“You don’t even go on raids,” she continues, and she must see something in his expression, because her voice lowers.  “And you’re not _powerful_.  Our Lord treasures power, and you’re weak.  He shouldn’t listen to you at all.”

“Is that what you think?” he asks and isn’t surprised when she perks up at his question.  She must be thinking she’s getting to him.

“Everyone thinks so,” she says.  “You don’t even have a mark; you haven’t earned your place around here.”

“So,” he says, calmly, “all I have to do is go on a raid then?”

Her eyes brighten and she nods.  She must’ve been planning this because she reaches into her robe and pulls out a plain white mask.  The ones that newly initiated Death Eaters wear.  It makes sense; there’s so many of them that Tom won’t know if another one joined, and well, Harry’s pretty sure he shouldn’t tell Tom he’s planning to go on a raid with them.

Well, he’s never been on one before, so he doesn’t think it such a bad idea to take the mask.

* * *

The air is charged. 

The other Death Eaters are talking in low tones to each other, but Harry keeps to himself.  The white mask is uncomfortable, but it doesn’t impair his vision.  And Bellatrix had dropped off robes last evening, and they fit him comfortably.

Harry hadn’t worn battle robes in ages.  He hadn’t dueled against anyone besides Tom either since their Hogwarts years, and although he knows a raid might be dangerous, he feels excited. 

Tom made it so his followers couldn’t torture any Muggles years ago thanks to his request so the raids are tamer than they should be.  Harry’s sure he should be fine.

The room falls into a tense silence, and then Tom’s striding in.  He’s dressed in expensive robes and he’s the only wizard in the room without a mask.  It’s a good thing because his good looks are out on display, his brown locks curled and his red eyes gleaming in the small amount of light in the room.

Harry’s so used to Tom that sometimes he forgets his best friend is one of the most attractive wizards in the Wizarding World. 

Now, it’s hard to forget, when Tom’s letting his magic out to fill the room.  He’s so _powerful_ , and Harry can’t help it, for a split second, he doubts himself.

Maybe Bellatrix is right.

Harry is in no way as powerful or as good looking as Tom.  It doesn’t make sense for Tom to treasure him so much – even if they _are_ best friends. 

He frowns, because he knows Tom treasures him for more than that, and that Tom would never want him to feel this way.

But it’s hard to think so when Tom’s giving a grand speech at that very second.  The other Death Eaters hang on to his every word, and Harry feels so far away.

He tries to bury it; now isn’t the time, not when he’s about to go on his first raid.

He’s so distracted by his thoughts that he doesn’t notice the speech is over until wizards are apparating away.  The high-ranking ones go first, and Harry swears he sees Bellatrix, although masked, turn to face him before she apparates away, her insane laughter echoing through the room as others follow suit.

Soon, it’s just Tom and the initiates.  He gives them one last word of advice, and they’re apparating away.

Harry spins, and then stops, a firm hand on his bicep.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t know it was you?”

Harry freezes, because Tom sounds mad, and he hasn’t used that voice on Harry in forever.

“I – “ he starts, and Tom cuts him off.

“What are you doing here?”

He reaches forward and takes Harry’s mask off.  “Did you want to see my speech?” he continues.  “Or were you really planning to go out there?”

Something in Tom’s voice sounds condescending and it makes him bristle.  “I’m not weak, Tom,” he says, “I’ll be fine out there.  I can help you.”

“You can’t.”

The refusal makes his heart stop and he can’t help it, he takes a step back, his feelings hurt.  “I can,” he protests.

“You belong _here_ ,” he says, his tone brooking no room for argument.

“Why?” he asks before he can get any angrier.  “Why am I so important to you?  Bellatrix said...”

Tom’s eyes flash, the red in them even more intense up close.  “What did she say to you?”  He sounds dangerous, but Harry presses on anyway.

“That I’m weak.  And that it means I haven’t earned my place here.  And I want to.”  He looks up at Tom, trying to get Tom to understand how much this means to him.  “I want to be useful to you Tom.”

Tom looks thrown, as if he had never realized Harry had felt this way.  “But you are useful,” he says.  “You’re the most useful person I have.”

He doesn’t even mind the possessive way Tom’s words come off, not when they bring a sense of relief.  “Still,” he says, “I can hold my own out there.  You duel me all the time!”

“Please,” says Tom, “Do you really think I would go all out and risk hurting you?”  Tom brings a hand up, almost tenderly brushing Harry’s messy hair out of his eyes.  It’s always messy, but the mask had only made it worse.  “I don’t say it enough,” says Tom, his voice quiet, “but you’re precious to me, Harry.  The most precious possession I have.”

Harry doesn’t dare say anything, not when Tom looks like this.

There’s a crack, and Harry jumps, Tom letting go of him a second later.  A Death Eater is waiting – Harry’s sure it’s Bellatrix – but Tom doesn’t turn to face her.

“Wait for me here?” asks Tom, and Harry knows that they’ll have to have a talk later.

He still wants to go on a raid, still wants to prove himself, but not when Tom wants him to stay here.

He nods, and Tom and Bellatrix disappear.

* * *

When Tom finds Harry, he finds him inside of Tom’s room.

There’s no sign that Tom came back from a raid, nothing but a nervous tapping from his foot that Harry isn’t entirely sure is from the raid.

“I thought you knew how important you are,” says Tom, eventually.  He goes to remove his outer robes, leaving the clothes Harry’s used to seeing him in.  He’s not meeting Harry’s eyes though, and Harry feels suddenly guilty for letting Bellatrix get to him.

“I do,” he protests.  “You’re my best friend, Tom, you’re the most important person in my life.”

That elicits a smile from Tom.  “You did give up everyone else for me, didn’t you?  To follow me out here and help me take over the world.”

He can’t help but to roll his eyes at Tom’s smugness.  “Yes, I gave up a future as an Auror to watch over your arse.  Merlin knows how many people you would’ve killed if it wasn’t for my selflessness.”

“I’m not homicidal,” argues Tom, and pointedly ignores the way Harry gives a clear look to the map they had been arguing over just a week ago.  “Taking over countries do _not_ count, Harry.”

“They do,” he protests, but concedes the point because well, they had this argument so many times and Tom has lost every single one in the end.   “I still want to go out there and help you though.”

“I know,” says Tom, and he sighs.  “But I can’t let you.”

“Why?”

“Because you might get hurt,” explodes Tom.  He looks briefly embarrassed, but he continues.  “You could die and I wouldn’t know what to do without you.”

“And what about you?” asks Harry.  “What if _you_ get hurt out there?  How am I supposed to trust that you’ll be okay?”

Tom raises an eyebrow at him, as if to scoff at the mere possibility that he, the greatest Dark Lord to walk the Earth, could get hurt by a mere wizard. 

“Still,” he persists.  “I could help you out there, Tom.  No, I _want_ to be by your side.”

“Why?” asks Tom.

“What do you mean why?” asks Harry.  “It’s not like this is a one-way street; I’ll be devastated without you.”

“Just because I’m your best friend?”

“Don’t be like that,” he says, “You _know_ you’re more than that to me.”

Tom looks speculative, calculating, and Harry stays silent since he’s been the recipient to a look like that more than once.

This time, he’s surprised when Tom reaches out, cupping his neck tenderly.  “I’m going to kiss you,” he declares, and Harry only has a moment to blink in shock before Tom’s leaning in.

His mind’s whirling at the touch of those lips on his, and it feels right.  Maybe he’s always liked Tom in some way, and that his declaration wasn’t meant to mean as a brother, but as a lover.

He melts in Tom’s embrace, and isn’t surprised that when they break apart, Tom hugs him tight.

“Did you always feel this way?” he asks, and Tom pulls away.

“Don’t be mad,” is what Tom says, and then he loops a finger in the chain around Harry’s neck and pulls it out.

Harry feels dimwitted for a second; Tom had given him a Slytherin’s locket a long time ago, as a sign of their friendship and Harry hadn’t taken it off ever since Tom had given it to him.  Now, as he looks down at it, it only brings home even more how long Tom’s liked him.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You’re oblivious,” says Tom, “and it was clear you loved me back.  I was just waiting for you to realize.”

“Oh,” he says, falling quiet as he contemplates this, and then pauses.  “Wait, why would I be mad?”

Tom looks nervous.  “Well, it’s a horcrux.”

It takes him a while, but then he remembers what exactly a horcrux is.  “I’ve been carrying a piece of your soul around you all this time?”

“Yes,” says Tom, “That’s why you have to stay safe.  I’ve only made the one.”

It’s oddly romantic, even though Harry feels like Tom should’ve told him a _lot_ earlier about the locket being a horcrux.  Still, if that isn’t a declaration of love, Harry isn’t sure what is.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll stay here.  As long as you promise to come back to me.”

“Always,” says Tom, and that’s that.

* * *

He runs into Bellatrix a day later. 

She’s sulking because her plan obviously failed, and Tom is even more affectionate with him now.

He feels the uncharacteristic need to gloat, and leans in.  “Bellatrix,” he says in a whisper, “You were right.  I wasn’t special enough to be his right-hand-man.”

Her eyes light up at his words and she turns to him, her mouth already shaping into a smug grin. 

“Because I’m his Consort,” he continues, and grins when her expression falls.

He leaves her there, and there’s a slight skip in his step when he runs into Tom.

“What are you so happy about?” asks Tom suspiciously.

“Nothing,” he says, and smiles when Tom throws an arm around his shoulders.

**Author's Note:**

> hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving! and an even better black friday! i'm moving up with my fiance in a week, so I spent the last two days shopping online and it's been a blast (except wow, furniture costs a lot). anyway please let me know if you enjoyed and see you guys next Friday <3 (with a pokemon AU, because hello, that game took over my life).


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